Give A Child A New Book Interest Meetings

The Friends of University Libraries, in conjunction with the Favre4Hope Foundation, are working together to improve the Christmas experience of children in the Pine Belt and on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The group will be collecting new, donated books to give to the Salvation Army, which will distribute them to needy children, ages infant to 12 years, during the holiday season.

The Give A Child A New Book Initiative brought in more than 3,000 donated books last year! This success is attributed to the wonderful giving people in our communities and the businesses that sponsored boxes, and even more, to the volunteers who worked behind the scenes.

The number of children in need is staggering, and in order to keep up with the growing need we need as many volunteers as possible. You can be involved in this project on many different levels. Whether you have a lot of time to give or just a little, there’s an important role for everyone to play.

To find out more about the Give A Child A New Book project and volunteer opportunities for individuals and/or student organizations, please plan to attend one of two open interest meetings. One meeting will be held for Gulf Coast residents on Tuesday, September 10, 2013, at 6 p.m. at the Gulf Coast Library on the Long Beach campus. For the Hattiesburg area, the meeting will be held Thursday, September 12, 2013, at 6 p.m. in the Cook Library Art Gallery (LIB 105A).

For more information on volunteering or if you or your organization would like to host a donation box, please contact Sarah Mangrum at 601.266.4251 or Sarah.Rials@usm.edu.